Funding for a long abandoned project to develop a rose promoting Montrose could yet be used to benefit the community.
In 2004 the town’s GlaxoSmithKline plant donated £1000 towards the production of a flower that would be dubbed a Montrose Rose.
It was hoped the perennial plant could cash in on the famous motto of HMS Montrose Mare ditat rosa decorat, or “The sea enriches and the rose adorns.”
However the idea, by members of the then Montrose Partnership, was ditched after it was revealed it would take three years of research and cost in the region of £55,000 to bring forward.
In 2007, the group wrote to Glaxo to ask if the funding could be used to benefit the town in other ways, but to date a response has not been confirmed.
Montrose Together has now opted to contact the firm again to see if the money, which is still in their account, can be utilised.
Chairman of the group, Peter Davies, said, “The money is still lying there in our bank account so we have written to Glaxo again to ask if it can be used for another project in Montrose.”
Plans to use the capital to spruce up the railway station have been tabled as one option, and the group hopes to link to ScotRail’s Adopt-a-Station scheme.
The money would be used as a float to purchase the likes of tree planters and flower beds, with the operator picking up the bill after the work was finished.
Mr Davies said, “Laurencekirk railway station is one that has got lots of nice flower beds and that sort of thing.
“It would have been a nightmare to attempt to raise the finances for the rose idea in this climate when local businesses are strapped for money as it is.”
The community group has been asked to think about what else the £1000 could be spent on, with information boards another possibility suggested.
There are over 100 base species of rose, most of which are native to Asia, with others found in Europe, North America, and north west Africa.
Breeders give new crosses and varieties interesting names such as Marilyn Monroe or Dancing Queen.